In Riverside, I used to add laundry sanitizer to ordinary loads because I thought detergent alone left the job unfinished. As of mid-September 2026, this season’s piles of everyday clothes still make that reflex tempting in my house. A retailer’s product listing tells shoppers to add sanitizer to every wash. That is a simple instruction to follow when the hamper is full, but it answers a different question from what an ordinary load actually needs.
Here in California, I want to sort out that difference before I reach for another bottle. In Riverside, Riverside Public Utilities advises washing only full loads to save water. That is a concrete laundry habit I can use at home. I can wait until I have a full load without treating the sanitizer compartment as a required stop for every shirt and towel. Clothes soiled during an illness are a different matter; I would separate that question from the routine pile rather than let one habit decide how both are washed.
Next stepIf you don’t have time for regular cleaning, ask local cleaners to help.Describe cleaning needs→Free · Your number stays private
What the CDC says
The CDC says this about bedding or clothing that may have touched diarrhea in its cholera guidance: “Regular detergent is fine. Bleach isn’t necessary.” Its advice for that laundry also calls for warm or hot water, preferably in a washing machine. That is a specific illness-related situation in which its instruction is to wash with detergent, not to add a disinfecting product to every load…